Proving that you don’t have to be San Francisco/Silicon Valley-based to have a successful startup, eTripTrader, which we showcased at our first Tech Cocktail mixer in Boise, Idaho last year, has grown their company every year since their launch 10 years ago. They support over 17,000 aircrew and ground-based employees through their SkedFlex and Crew Companion product and…
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Last week I wrote about the difficulties startups have had cracking the online dating code. While there is definitely room for improvement, no one has quite gotten there yet. During my research, I was introduced to Laurie Davis, founder of eFlirtExpert.com, who said the biggest problem she’s seen with online dating sites is the huge…
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If you were one of 999 who RSVP’d to attend DC Tech Meetup: Social Media Edition this past Wednesday, then you got a chance to enjoy Peter Corbett’s interview with Haroon Mokhtarzada, Co-Founder and CEO of Webs.com – “the world’s largest do-it-yourself website-creation solution,” which was acquired by Vistaprint in December 2011 for $117.5 mil. If you…
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If you’re single, today sucks. There is no escaping all the ooey-gooey-makes-you-just-want-to-barf ads and promotions for Valentine’s Day. As our lives become increasingly busy, it seems that the easiest way to meet people is online, a fact that many entrepreneurs have also noticed. So much so, that online dating sites are almost a dime a…
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Though you may be more familiar with Kayak, Priceline, Travelocity, and Expedia, Calabasas-based CheapAir.com has been around longer – since 1989 – and after talking to founder and CEO Jeff Klee, I think they’re better than the competition. Despite being in a crowded marketplace, they are constantly looking for ways to innovate – and that…
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Imagine using your media center as a server for your startup. You’re sitting there, watching Netflix, and suddenly, everything goes down. You realize your server just got hit because the Denver Post started using your startup. It happened to Paul Kenjora, and he proceeded to raise $1.5 million for that very same tech startup…in Arizona….
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Yesterday, Salesforce announced the launch of Desk.com, a new social help desk product built by the Assistly team, which was acquired last September. We have been following the progress of San Francisco-based Assistly, syncing up every few months with founder and CEO Alex Bard since their creation and participation as a San Diego startup showcase…
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TabbedOut, a free mobile payment app we’ve covered in the past, has a new CEO with big plans for the company. Paul Fiore is replacing co-founder Rick Orr, who will stay on as Executive Vice-President. If you haven’t heard or used TabbedOut, it lets you pay a bar or restaurant tab in real time from…
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As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, the number of accelerators and incubators is rapidly growing all around the globe. TechStars not only runs amazing programs themselves, but they also have a network of other independent accelerators in the US and abroad to whom they provide consulting and ongoing assistance. Springboard, which is…
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This morning HelloWallet announced that they closed $12 million in Series B funding. Chicago-based Morningstar, Inc. invested $6.75 million and DC-based TD Fund (TDF) invested $4 million. Existing investors and new investors also participated in the round. Morningstar and HelloWallet plan to co-market their services to employers and 401(k) providers. I had a chance to…
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When Google crawls your website, they’re putting less value in what you have to say about your content (i.e. metadata),and more interest in what the content itself is saying and who is talking about it. Makes sense. If our own assessment of the content of our lives were a true indicator of their worth, we’d all…
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Blank slate has never been so colorful. At last year’s SXSW, Tech Cocktail covered a new robo-ball-toy called Sphero. The robotic ball, controlled by your smartphone, puts a heavy emphasis on design. While the ball’s clear exterior rotates in order to achieve movement, the interior remains balanced. The result- Sphero’s bottom half continually faces the…
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The entrepreneur that brought you a wealth of hilarious and embarrassing text messages is now devoting her time to Banters, a platform for sharing quotes. Cofounder Lauren Leto started the site, then called Bnter, in 2010. It recently changed its name to Banters and launched a new iPhone app that integrates with Siri for recording…
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Last March at SXSW, Tim O’Reilly called Fluidinfo his favorite startup. Three years earlier, Robert Scoble said it was “unfundable” but “world-changing” – yet Fluidinfo has since raised $1.3 million from investors including Esther Dyson and O’Reilly himself. Why is Fluidinfo garnering such praise, and why is it so hard to understand? Fluidinfo is basically…
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For some, their million-dollar idea strikes while in the shower. For others, it’s scribbled out on a notepad on their nightstand moments before falling asleep. For Matt Younkle, however, his flash of genius struck while waiting in line. For beer. His frustration with the slow moving line at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student union led him to…
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When we last covered Blue Bite, they were just starting to use near field communication (NFC) to deliver content in a highly targeted way. As Daniel Trigub, Blue Bite’s VP of Business Development, told me, the company is focused on bridging location and content – and they believe NFC is the wave of the mobile…
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There are a number of startup accelerator and incubator programs in the United States. We are fans of these programs (not to be confused with... Read More
Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said their iPad was their primary computer, up from around 30%... Read More
With our Startup Mixology Conference coming up next week followed by our classic Tech Cocktail DC Summer mixer which will showcase a handful of early-stage... Read More
Coming off of one of our biggest Tech Cocktail mixer events in Chicago this past week, which showcased 14 early-stage start-ups, we thought it would... Read More